A shaving head of this type is known from DE 43 12 060 C1 and is used, for example, as a long-hair cutter in combination with a short-hair cutter assembly of an electric dry shaving apparatus. It finds preferred application when integrated as a central cutter between two shaving foils. The prior known shaving head has an under cutter comprised of a U-shaped blade having plural slots and driven to oscillate in the longitudinal direction. This blade is urged into contact with an outer cutter whose skin-engaging surface is situated on the side of the outer cutter facing away from the under cutter. This engagement surface is comprised of a center bar from which a plurality of tines arranged in the manner of a comb extend transversely to either side. The tines form cutting edges which in combination with the under cutter are able to cut hairs that have penetrated through the corresponding slots. The comb-type tines form boundaries for slots extending from the longitudinal side of the engagement surface until the center bar where they end. The longitudinally extending center bar therefore contributes to serving as a trap for the entered hairs, causing these hairs to be held captive in the shaving head until a cutting event takes place. In the known shaving head the length of the cutting edges of the outer cutter is slightly less than half the width of the outer cutter.
Whilst the known shaving head has proven successful in practice, there is the risk, in particular at an elevated advancing speed of the hair cutting apparatus, of a hair, which is initially trapped between the tines, being caught as late as on the center bar, but being subsequently pulled over this bar, so that it is outside the range of the cutting edges before a cutting event has taken place. In order to diminish the probability of such a case occurring with the prior known shaving head, it would be necessary to extend the cutting edges, that is, the length of the tines or the slots, considerably, which would result in significantly larger dimensions of the shaving head.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a shaving head of the type identified in the preamble, which is distinguished by particularly high effectiveness also at elevated advancing speeds of the hair cutting apparatus while yet being of a very compact size.